We Are Voices - What Makes Us So Alive?

We Are Voices - What Makes Us So Alive?Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: Soon, 2009

I don’t know where We Are Voices have been and I don’t want to know. What I do want is for them to stay around forever. Hushed voices, beguilingly light guitars, lyrical beauty; this is just what I need. What Makes Us So Alive? could be a laughable question for many bands, but here it feels almost answerable, like it’s on the tip of our tongues. Music, camaraderie, and the chances a new day brings pulse throughout What Makes Us So Alive? Whether you put any faith in a higher power or not is irrelevant (for once). Here it’s just you and your life, conveniently conveyed by the forces of a well-crafted song.

We Are Voices succeed at being serious. Just get a load of these song titles, “The Business of Heaven” and “When All The Trees Have Lied”; if these phrases had front porches, I would leave a flaming pile of poop on them. Usually. Instead, I want to understand them. I want to decipher their intricacies. “The Business of Heaven” opens the album with wonderfully Lydia-esque vocals and the all-important question: “What makes us so alive?” There’s clearly no rush for an answer, as Lucas Larson sinks deeper and deeper into sentimentality. His group of not-so-merry players wafts about with ambient tones and a climax that just may change your life. I’ll hold for the goosebumps…and, there they are.

“This Isn’t Surface. This Isn’t Good.” is a bit more alt-rock than the other tracks, but piano melodies thrive as the song’s built-in calming mechanism. It’s one of those relationship songs wonderfully recreated through, here’s a shocker, lyrics that have been obviously agonized over: “This air is everything to me / But you make believe / It doesn’t matter.” But Larson’s words aren’t even the best part. No, that distinction belongs to Joshua Greenlee’s mesmerizing drum solo. Throughout What Makes Us So Alive?, Greenlee takes every opportunity to infuse life into somewhat sobering tunes. His timing and inventiveness create a focus in We Are Voices’ music that is oft overlooked by soft-rock bands. It’s a f**k you to guidance counselors everywhere: we can have it all.

If you’d like more gushing, I could oblige. But this isn’t some thinly-veiled press release. I’m not going to ramble about “This Life. Somewhere Else.”’s watery texture and self-reflective lyrics. I shan’t blow your mind by detailing the percussive touches of “Dear Lord, It’s Simple…” (Instead I’ll just halfheartedly describe them. Ha, fools!) Simply inhale these songs and breathe for the first time - just look how dramatic I’m becoming. That counts for something, right?

Recommended If You Like: Lydia, In Harbour, professionalism, Caterpillars on downers, promise

I love your reviews, Blake. You are one of my favorite reviewers, by far. I think it helps that we seem to have very similar tastes in music and I look to your reviews when in the search for new bands. This band is no exception. I pulled up their myspace after reading your review and I can't stop listening. I can't wait for this album to be released. This Isn't Surface This Isn't Good is definitely my favorite track off the ones they've put on their myspace.